SoCal Fires Live Thread 10/28

10/28/03 | Myself

[spectr17]

SoCal Fires Live Thread 10/28

[PhiKapMom]

The National Weather Service here in Norman has been providing the fire departments with information on wind flow, etc. I clicked on my weather I get from them and then went to Lake Arrowhead for the update from there.

Reporting the wind will be shifting to the NNW and will be about 5-10 mph. That must be the reason for the evacuations. I know the wind had shifted from S this morning first thing to SW and looks like it is moving to a NNW flow. That is not good news.

[baseballmom]

Gray Davis really seems to be an incompetent fool.

New from brother. Family is leaving Mt. Woodson in Ramona again, because the smoke is so bad, and there is fire trouble in Julian, Witch Creek, and Santa Ysabel along Rt 78. This must be a flare up again, as this is where the Cedar fire started - in Julian.

He is still stuck here in the East - having much trouble getting back to SD. Hopefully he'll make it back today.

Thanks be to God they are safe and the house is still standing.

[Travis McGee]

Roger that! Adios, "Over and out."

[Poohbah]

A Seahawk (Navy Blackhawk) is not exactly a Hughes 1000 Little Bird!

No, but it ain't a Super Stallion, either!

And Navy Seahawk pilots who land on pitching destroyers in high winds at night are not exactly "Bob from Channel 8, your traffic eye in the sky" when it comes to flying hairy missions.

True, but their missions require specialized training; so does firefighting, and the skill sets do not have perfect overlap. The problem is that you can't just get up on the spur of the moment and do something like this--you need to have trained prior to the crisis.

[lainie]

I have to admit I half-expected to hear at least some air traffic over my house, as I'm in the path between Edwards & this fire.. although I have no knowledge of what might be at Edwards AFB

[lainie]

He's a socialist politician and not a leader.

[justshe]

Yes....that would be a blessing! I'll join you in that prayer...as a fellow Oregonian!

[lainie]

Amen to that. Best to him!!

[PhiKapMom]

That's criminal IMHO! Cong Hunter called the head of CDF and gave him General Myers home phone number so they could cut through the red tape after Hunter talked to General Myers. According to the reports, the head of CDF said he would think about it.

Story coming up on KFI after the news reports!

Firefighters want everyone off the mountain and all along HW 38 so they have the room to fight the fire.

[ken5050]

They could hold a Dem presidential candidates debate in San Diego..those 9 clowns would suck all the oxygen out of the air..put out the fire..

[Conservative4Ever]

...HW 38 would be shut-off.

as I explained yesterday there is a road block at Bryant on 38..by the Mill Creek Ranger Station.

Wow...great above tanker shot on Fox 11 of tanker dropping Phoschek in Santa Susanna. Great photography.

[PhiKapMom]

ROFLOL!!!!!!!!! Now that is the truth!

[Conservative4Ever]

keep safe...see ya later.

[Poohbah]

Why are 100 Navy Seahawk helicopters sitting idle at North Island, ten minutes from the firestorm???????

Because they've never trained for the mission, because Grayout Doofus is too feckless to ask for military help, and because the private contractors do NOT want to compete with the military.

[PhiKapMom]

Firefighters want everyone off the mountains according to their reports so they have room to fight the fires. Winds shifting according to NWS here in Norman to the NNE for Lake Arrowhead.

[Travis McGee]

Sometimes you do what you gotta do. Putting a sling load on the deck of a pitching destroyer is MUCH harder than dropping a load of water from 200 feet over a fire.

At the VERY least, I want this topic explored, so the NEXT time, we don't wait 24 hours to get air assets over the fires!

We need to look at these fires the way medics look at the "Golden Hour" in treating trauma. A few dozen helicopter buckets of water in the FIRST HOURS of a fire like this could have stopped it cold, before the Santa Anas blew it into the "Firestorm of 2003."

"WHY ARE 100 NAVY SEAHAWKS SITTING IDLE, 10 MINUTES FROM THE FIRESTORM???????"

[L,TOWM]

Speaking as a former state employee, I can assure you that I was unable to discover ONE SINGLE dimbulb appointee that showed one iota of competence.

Except for spinning, politic-ing, raising money, and flat out lying. They all possessed varying degrees of skill at those tasks.

[lainie]

The wind at my home is slight, now from the WSW

[PhiKapMom]

They are proving what you have just said hour by hour which is sad!

[BJungNan]

Choppers can operate at the height but they are not loaded with water. The small amount of water they could hold would not make that difference.

Did you just hear on the Rush's show (Roger hedgecock) that two C130s with fire fighting capability have been sitting on the ground the entire time becuase Gov. Dave will not order them into the air. Incredible.

This things can drop a bag with 3000 gallons of water very accurately.